Tom Hanks has been awarded honorary Greek citizenship.
The 63-year-old actor and his wife Rita Wilson – who is of Greek and Bulgarian ancestry – frequently spends their summers on the Greek island of Antiparos and now the country’s president, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, has made it possible for Hanks to claim Greek citizenship.
President Pavlopoulos has signed an honorary naturalisation order, which, under Greek law, may be granted to people "who have provided exceptional services to the country or whose naturalisation serves the public interest".
The couple have a small summer home on the island of Antiparos and Tom converted to the Greek Orthodox Church before marrying Rita in 1988.
He has said that he feels "110 percent Greek…I’m more Greek than a Greek is" because of his marriage to Rita.
The pair produced the movie ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ and star and writer Nia Vardalos previously praised them for ensuring the movie’s authenticity.
She said: "There was a scene where a character was wearing jeans and supposedly the family had just gotten back from church.
"Tom knew that no Greek Orthodox practitioner wears jeans to church, so he astutely made the appropriate changes that everyone else missed."
Tom Hanks awarded honorary Greek citizenship
